Thou Shalt Not Worry

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

...About anything...

It has been said that prayer and worry are as mutually opposed as fire and water. One cannot exist where the other resides. If the fire is strong and hot, it will vaporize all water. Where there is water in abundance, it will douse the flame. I'm not sure which is which, but the message is clear: prayer and reliance on God's provision should always quench any worry, ANY worry, we might have. Jesus made this a very clear point in his sermon on the mount. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus tells us that just as God the Father provides for the plants of the field and the birds of the air, so will he provide for our needs. In other words, let's run after him, and his will for our lives and not worry about all the fluff that this world constantly throws at us, and he'll provide us with what we need.

In light of this, why is it that we worry so much about all the little things, and worry even more about the basics (ie big things)? In American culture today, daily life is devoted constantly to getting more stuff, more things, more more more. And the instant something happens to keep more from coming our way, we freak out. Often anger or anxiety or even depression will set in. Perhaps you try to hide it for a while, and you might do a pretty good job at it. But eventually it begins affecting your demeanor, the way you interact with people, and close relationships. As Yoda would say: "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." At the root of it, when we become worried that we can't get more, or that we won't have enough, we give into fear.

Worry = Fear

Fear can be absolutely detrimental to our well-being. We each react to it differently. Some of us get angry at every little thing. Some of us seclude ourselves, opening the door to deep-seated depression. Fear can be crippling, in every way. Most of the time, though, worry is just a small amount of fear. It looks like we can probably manage it on our own, so we start to fight what we are fearful of. In this context, we work harder and harder and harder to get more and more and more. We let this worry, this fear, that God won't provide for our needs consume us, and we depend on our own strength rather than his.

It's interesting that God saw all this coming. Throughout his Word, he repeatedly encourages us, commands us to "Fear not."

Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
-Isaiah 41:10

The command to "fear not" is the most repeated throughout all of scripture. And how do we follow it? Check out Philippians 4 again: in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God. He has this amazing thing called omnipotence; he's in control of everything. And he has the capability to flood us with this amazing sense of peace amidst the chaos of life. And then, he provides in ways we couldn't even imagine. All the more reason to trust him, and fear not.

To sum everything up: God can and will provide, we should therefore fear not, and instead of worrying, pray. If you're constantly tempted to worry, Paul says it best in 1 Thessalonians 5:17:

Pray Continually

Dear God...?

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us --whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him. -1 John 5:14-15

What is prayer? Why don't we get what we ask when we pray for it, if this verse says what it seems to say? What did Jesus have to say about prayer?

I've noticed throughout my life that people can be characterized by how they pray. Some people when they pray become very reverent when they pray, and maybe even look like they're about to pray. Some people pray for what seems like hours, saying the same things over and over again and using big words. Some people say "Lord", "God", or "Father" every two words. Some people don't even like praying when they are around other people. And then there are those people who don't even sound like they're praying, but actually preaching to the people around them.

How then, should we pray? Should it even be a public thing? And how does God answer prayer?

Jesus gave us the example of how to pray in his sermon on The Mount:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
-Matthew 6:9-13

So basically, when we pray, we should find a place alone, quiet, without any distractions. We should then glorify God, pray for provision of needs, and forgiveness. Then we should pray for protection. Jesus also said that we should not be hypocritical when we pray. Prayer is between God and me; other people do not play a role.

What about corporate prayer? And you still haven't answered the question about answers to prayer.

Corporate prayer...we do it all the time in church. Some people are really comfortable with it, and others not. Some people make lots of noise during prayer: "Mmm...yes Lord...amen". Sometimes it can be distracting, other times uplifting. The book of Acts tells us that the early church met regularly to pray together, meaning this has been a tradition from the beginning. Meeting together like this can be uplifting, and it is meant to unify the body of Christ. We should come together and pray in the name of Jesus, and this unifies us in action and spirit. There are also countless times in the Old and New Testaments when people pray for healing, for well-being, and for God's provision, so this has its place in corporate prayer as well.

So why aren't those prayers always answered? The verse in 1 John seems to indicate they should ALWAYS be answered.

Ya, that definitely is what it seems like. There's also a passage in Matthew that seems to indicate the same thing. But read it again...."according to his will." God is sovereign. If we ask what is according to his will, we will receive it. But if it is not in his will, then the answer will be no. And no is still an answer.

This brings me to my main point: Prayer is not about getting what we want. It is about having communion with God, and discerning his will for our lives.

I think scripture makes it clear: prayer is communicating with God. We communicate in order to know what other people are thinking, doing, feeling, desiring. We communicate to build relationship. And this is exactly what prayer, communication with God, is. Just as one can ask a friend for something and that friend refuse the request, so to can God answer no to our requests. This is in order that we might pray for his will to be done in our lives, as Jesus said, and to learn what that is we must continue to pray.

Let us then pray with the intent of growing close to God, and to know his will.

Pray continually...for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
-1 Thessalonians 5:17-18